It's time to give Ryan Poles his credit as Bears general manager

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles has not been the most popular guy within the fanbase over the last three years, and that's putting it mildly. Some fans seem to be of the opinion that the Bears will never be successful under Poles' leadership, and while that's a bit overboard, the general frustration from fans makes sense. Since he was hired in 2022 and promised to 'take the [NFC] North and never give it back', Ryan Poles has led the Bears to just 15 wins in 3 seasons.

But it's time to acknowledge a hard truth: Poles is developing into a good general manager, and these latest rookie signings are proof of that.

The 2025 NFL draft class unexpectedly became a historic group, specifically the second-rounders who, for the first time in NFL history, are beginning to negotiate fully guaranteed rookie contracts. This created a logjam in rookie signings as every other second-round selection negotiated for the same deal.

This was a challenging time for NFL general managers, but no one had it harder than Ryan Poles, who had three second-round players to sign. Despite some fear of holdouts, all three have now signed their rookie deals in time to report for training camp. While the details aren't publicly available on Shemar Turner's contract, we do know that Ozzy Trapilo got a large chunk of his deal guaranteed, while Luther Burden III joined the club of 100% guarantees.

This was a smart move by Poles, to not let a relatively small amount of money stand in the way of getting these rookies ready to compete. He negotiated well and got all three players ready to go. And it's not the only savvy move he's made over the past 15 months.

Look at the cornerback market. Two-time Pro Bowler Jaylon Johnson is easily a Top 10 cornerback in the league, but is only the 14th highest paid at his position. He acquired a future Hall of Fame offensive lineman to protect Caleb Williams for just a fourth-round pick. And, of course, Poles pulled off his best move yet by hiring Ben Johnson as Chicago's head coach, an offensive mastermind who could have signed with any team he wanted and was getting the full-court press from Tom Brady and the Las Vegas Raiders.

To be clear, Poles has some truly horrendous moves on his resume, but no GM is perfect. Even Howie Roseman, the architect of that juggernaut roster in Philadelphia, infamously passed on superstar Justin Jefferson in the draft and has his own laundry list of bad trades. The good GM's learn from these mistakes and get better, and that appears to be what Poles is doing.

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